


Painful Ignorance

by Haroomba



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pixane, Soooo much angst, ninjago season 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 02:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21091991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haroomba/pseuds/Haroomba
Summary: How does it feel when you are unable to feel? How can you go on when you are unable to mourn? Why did you even hope to continue despite knowing nothing lasts forever?Nervous for her friends arrival, Pixal awaits for the ninja's return from the Never Realm. When they do arrive, however, she soon finds out things may never be the same.





	Painful Ignorance

**Author's Note:**

> Pixane angst for my first work posted for both Ao3 and Ninjago? How fitting.

Pixal continued to pace her Samurai X cave, trying to come up with a plan to open an entrance to the Never Realm. It had been nearly a week since the ninja left, with no word or signal of ever returning. It worried her, with each passing minute, that her waiting would be for nothing.

  
_“What if they never return?”_ Her intrusive thoughts echoed, trying to chip away at her mind. The ninja had a mission, and in order to complete it they had to leave their home behind. Both them and the city counted on her to stay strong, which leaves no room for such negative hypotheticals.

  
The past few days had been eventful, to say the least. Defeating the Preeminent had torn apart her Samurai mech, which currently took the span of her free time to repair.  
After finishing her brief moment of reflection, Pixal finally composed herself and walked back towards the mech, grabbing a screwdriver on the way. Climbing the metal exosuit, she shimmied inside the opening, where she would pilot her creation. Opening the loose panel, Pixal inspected the loose wires, cutting and rearranging them as if she was creating a jigsaw puzzle inside a jigsaw puzzle. Finally coming up for air, Pixal’s eyes caught the familiar portrait of her and Zane, which was somehow left untouched from her previous battle. It was “lucky”, as her friends would say.

  
A loud noise echoed parallel from the mech, snapping Pixal out of her own mind. Quickly turning to where the noise originated from, she stared as a bright blue portal seemingly opened out of nowhere. As it continued to pulse, Pixal almost leaped out of the mech from joy, realizing it signaled the return of her friends.

  
Green metal emerged as her more recent mechanical creation walked towards the portal and into her view. She could only smile as she noticed her friends holding onto the exosuit, with Lloyd controlling it. Her smile slowly disappeared as she noticed there were only five of them.

  
When the mech finally came to a stop, the other four ninja released themselves from the mech, walking towards Pixal.

  
Taking note of their lack of relief, she asked. “I am glad of your return! But, where is Zane?”

  
The only ninja who dared to make eye contact with her was Zane. Even still, she only stared back in silence, her voice unable to form words.

  
“Where is Zane?” she repeated, although this time her tone was more direct, yet scared.

  
This time, Lloyd lept out of his seat, climbing down the mech to meet Pixal’s concerned eyes.

  
“What has happened?” Pixal questioned, volume only slightly louder than a whisper.

  
Lloyd looked to his feet, now taking deeper breaths.

  
“Time… time moves differently in the Never Realm.” Lloyd began, still not looking Pixal in the eye. “It didn’t feel long here… but it had been decades back there.”

  
“Is that why the mech seems aged?” Pixal interrupted, wanting to push the inevitable outcome out of her mind.

  
“Yeah, but that’s not all. Zane… in that time alone with the staff… it corrupted him. It made him cold and unrecognizable.”

  
“I do not understand.” Pixal said as she felt the light in her eyes glow slightly dimmer.

  
“He became what the people there called the ‘Ice Emperor’. He… it looks like many lives were gone under his rule.”

  
Pixal began to shake her head, its frequency growing more rapid by the second. “No, no that cannot be true.”

  
“We tried to help him, try to stop him from all this harm but… there was this girl who he had hurt and…” Lloyd’s voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.

  
Sighing, Nya once again met Pixal’s eyes, placing a hand on her shoulder. “He’s gone, Pixal. I… I’m sorry.”

  
Pixal could feel her body mechanics pause for what seemed to be a split second. She stared at Nya, then at Lloyd, unable to communicate what she was feeling. It was as if all vital life functions had paused, and Pixal did not know the cure.

  
“I do not understand. He is… gone?”

  
“Yeah.” Cole answered, eyes dodging everywhere but where Pixal was standing. “I don’t think… I don’t think he’s coming back.”

  
“You said he was gone before, and then he returned. That must be what is happening now.”

  
Nya shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s what’s happening now. I’m so sorry.”

  
Pixal blinked. “Are you saying…”

  
Breaking eye contact with Nya, she covered her mouth with her right hand, wanting to muffle any involuntary sounds of sadness.

  
“So he is… he is truly gone.”

  
After what felt like an eternity of silence, the ninja finally nodded.

  
The left side of her upper chest seemed to grow in pain, a feeling Pixal had not felt since… the day Zane had first disappeared.

  
“Are you okay?” Nya asked, still not releasing her hand from Pixal’s shoulder.

  
“I do not know how to process such emotion.” Pixal muttered, feeling any cognitive thought leaving her neural drive.

  
“I… Zane left a message inside the mech. I think you should hear it as well.” Lloyd said, moving closer to Pixal. “I’m really sorry.”

  
Pixal blinked again, focusing on the mech, which stood solemnly, as if it had no care in the world.

  
“Thank you for letting me know. I would like to listen to the message.”

  
Lloyd nodded, showing a faint smile, as if it would relieve her of the wave of emotions that continued to pour over her. He nodded to the other ninja, who shuffled out of the cave, most likely to tell Master Wu of what had happened.

  
Placing a hand on Pixal’s shoulder, Lloyd smiled once again.

  
“If you need any one of us, for anything at all, we’ll be upstairs.”

  
Pixal nodded as Lloyd followed the others.

  
Climbing onto the mech, Pixal fiddled with the buttons before a grainy message played on the cracked screen.

* * *

_“Pixal… I love you.”_

  
As Zane closed the message saying his final goodbyes, Pixal felt her pause grow even greater. She was unable to let Zane know how she truly felt, and now it seemed she never will.

  
Pixal continued to stare at the computer screen, before lifting her right hand. Running her fingers against the cracked and damaged glass screen, she never felt further to Zane as she did now. Ironic, seeing as she shared half his heart.

  
Pressing the “OFF” button on the screen, Pixal stared at her eyes, which no longer glowed green, but a soft white.

  
“I am sorry, Zane, that we did not have more time. But I promise, I will never forget you.”


End file.
